


Your scars are a roadmap of your life

by nekosd43



Series: Scar Stories [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Comfort, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, I try not to get graphic, Scars, Trans Male Character, You can kind of imply some messed up things from some of Taako's scar stories, but I don't say anything specific so it's hard to tag, discussion of past injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 12:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10101008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekosd43/pseuds/nekosd43
Summary: Magnus, Taako, and Merle have a lot of scars.  They all have their own baggage about them.  Some things are easy to talk about.  Some aren't.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was partially inspired by Gorecash's drawing of Taako being upset about Magnus losing his scars if he gets a new body after all this shit is over in cannon. So I'd like to think early on in their relationship, something like this happens, because I'm not sure Taako would find scars something worth having at first.
> 
> Scars are important!!! I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS.

“Sorry Magnus!  I did my best, but that one is gonna leave a scar.”

Taako laughed.  “I’m not sure Magnus can live with _one_ scar tarnishing his _flawless_ skin.”

Magnus smiled and looked down at his wrist.  His left hand was still holding his right wrist aloft.  Sure enough, the cut had closed, but a faint mark of where it had been was still there.

Magic was weird.  Sometimes it could completely reverse damage that had been done (if it isn’t that serious, if your cleric is strong enough, if the damage was recent enough), but _sometimes_ … Sometimes it couldn’t fix everything.

And then you are left with a scar.

“It’s okay Merle,” Magnus smiled, “I’ll add it to the collection.”

Merle smiled back.  “Oh, do you have a ‘I did a stupid thing and now I have a scar to show for it’ collection?”

Magnus pointed at his face.

“Uh, what do you think _this_ is?”

“Your ugly face,” Taako scoffed.

“No I mean this!”  He pointed more specifically at the long, crooked scar over his eye.

Merle frowned.  “I think I just assumed you were born like that.”

“Yeah,” Taako laughed, “Came into the world already fucked up like a _boss_.”

“For your information,” Magnus huffed, “I took a broken bottle to the face.”

Taako laughed again.  “That sounds about right.”

“Okay but seriously,” Merle’s voice was grave.  “Bar fight, or did you trip and fall into a table?”

“Oooh, good question,” Taako tittered, “Honestly?  I could see both.”

Magnus leaned back with a smile.  “Who do you guys think I am?” he chuckled, “Of _course_ it was a fight.  It was a _dumb_ fight, but it was a fight.”

“Any fight where you end up with glass in your face is a dumb fight,” Merle sagely replied.

“What was the fight about?” Taako asked.

Magnus looked away for a moment.  “Just like…  Dumb shit.  I don’t know.  I think there was a girl involved.”

Merle nodded and made an understanding “Hmm” sound.

“Okay your turn Taako,” Magnus said.  “Tell me how you got the one on your ear.”

Taako’s hand went to his earlobe reflexively.  It was a little scar, but on his thin ears it stood out.  He hadn’t realized that Magnus had even seen it.

“I… uh,” he stammered, “It was something dumb.”

“And glass to the face isn’t dumb?” Magnus replied.

Taako smiled.

“Okay sure,” he sighed, “It was a hoop earring.  Some jackass grabbed my ear... in a fight.  Ripped it straight out.”

“Holy shit!” Magnus cried.

“Yeah luckily it healed at all but… no more hoops for Taako.”

Merle didn’t wait for someone to prompt him.  He stretched out his leg and pointed to a very nasty looking scar running up the inside of it.

“Tripped out in the shoals,” he explained.  “Turns out shells can be _really_ sharp if you hit them at the right angle.”

“But you’re a _cleric_!” Magnus cried.

“I wasn’t when this happened!” Merle defended, “This was back before I… I was still a young man then.”

“You’re an old man now?” Taako teased.

“Are we gonna keep doing this?” Magnus asked, “Because, like, I’ve got a shit-ton of scars.”

“Tell me about the one here,” Taako said, gesturing to his own shoulder.

“Oh that one wasn’t dumb,” Magnus laughed.  “Crossbow bolt grazed me.  I was defending a town from invaders.  This is not the nasty one, I took a bolt full on right here.”  He pulled down the neck of his shirt to reveal another scar, faded, just above his collarbone.  The wound was old, but it looked deep.

“You were defending a _town_?” Taako asked.

“Yeah I…” Magnus hesitated, “I’m sort of a local folk hero where I come from.”

“ _Holy shit!”_ Taako cried, “I knew you had the whole _rustic hospitality_ thing, but a _folk hero_?”

Magnus blushed.  “I just don’t like seeing people in trouble.”

Taako rolled up his sleeves.  “Well I got a dumb one for you.”  He held out his left arm, which was covered by the Bureau's bracer.  Peeking out from underneath the silver gauntlet was what looked like a shiny burn mark.

“Kinda hard to see with the bracer there,” Merle said.

“My dude I put the bracer there _because_ of it,” Taako scoffed.  “Get this.  I’m a young elf lad.  I’m on the road traveling.  I’m paying my way on caravans with my cooking.”

“I didn’t know you were a traveling chef,” Magnus said.

“It’s been a long life, I’ve done a lot of things,” Taako dismissed.  “Anyway, I’m cooking in the back of a kitchen wagon, one that’s decked out to have a fire and everything?  And I’ve got a really hot skillet going with oil in it for pan frying.”

“Oh no I already don’t like where this is going,” Magnus winced.

“I guess there was like, a bump in the road?  There was another guy in the wagon, he... stumbled?  Anyway the moral is, don’t fry things in a moving caravan.”

“Yikes!” Magnus cried, making a horrified face.  “So the dude bumped into you when the wagon shook?”

“I think that’s what happened?” Taako mused, “Yeah… yeah that had to have been what happened.  It was a loooooong time ago though.”

“Merle’s turn!”

“I don’t have as many as you two!” Merle defended, “Most of my injuries happened after I became a cleric!”

“Old man you’ve _got_ to have at least one more,” Taako teased, “I refuse to believe a cleric as incompetent as you doesn’t have scars.”

Merle thought about it for a moment.

“Oh I’ve got…” He held out his hand to show them a scar across his palm.

“That little thing?” Taako asked.

“It’s little, but it’s dumb as hell,” Merle replied.

“What did you do, grab a knife by the blade?” Magnus asked.

“Well…”

“You grabbed a knife by the blade?!?” Magnus cried.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“I never want to live in the reality where grabbing a knife by the blade is a good idea,” Taako moaned.  “You are a crazy person.”

“This was before I was ordained in Panism.” Merle shrugged.  “Tried out a few Gods.  Fun fact, Haela Brightaxe?  Patron of Dwarven warriors?  Likes blood sacrifices.”

“You let your hand get cut for a blood sacrifice?”

“Like I said, it seemed like a good idea at the time,” Merle sighed, “Turns out I’m not really into the whole “goddess of luck in battle” scene.”

“This suddenly explains _why_ you are so shit at fighting,” Taako gasped.  “Are you like _cursed_.”

“No!” Merle said, “I mean, I don’t think I am?”

“Nevermind,” Taako sighed, “If you’re cursed, that’s your problem.  Magnus, give me another one.”

“You gotta be more specific,” Magnus laughed, “I’ve got _a lot._ ”

“What about… what about the one on your side?”

“Left or right?”

“I dunno, lift up your shirt and I’ll point.”

Merle waved his hand at the two of them.

“I’m out, you guys can keep doing this if you want.”

He smiled, and headed off to his room.

Magnus pulled his shirt off over his head.  Taako was struck with just how _many_ scars Magnus had.

“That one, the one that looks cool,” Taako said, pointing to a faded mark that looked almost like a tree running up his side.

“Lightning damage,” Magnus sighed.  “Don’t get electrocuted.  It fucking _sucks._ ”

“What about this one?” he pointed to a faded gash across the fighters stomach.

“Broadsword to the gut,” he admitted, “Only reason I lived through that one was because a cleric was within earshot of me.”

“What about-”

“Come on, do _you_ have any others?” Magnus looked uncomfortable.

“Sorry man, you’ve just got so _many_.”

“I’m a _fighter_.”

“No I mean… it’s just weird a guy like you has so many scars.  You’re so…”  Taako waved his hand in the air trying to find the right word in Common.  “ _Masca_ …”

Magnus laughed, recognising the Elvish word.

“Soft.  The word you’re looking for is soft.”

“Soft, but like in a teddy bear way,” Taako explained, “You’re really gentle.”

“I don’t _like_ hurting people,” Magnus shrugged, “I do what has to be done.  But really, show me another one of yours.”

Taako hesitated, then lifted his shirt over his head.

There were two obvious scars under his chest, but Magnus knew better than to ask about those ones.

“There, above your hip.”

“Oh that one isn’t dumb,” Taako muttered.  “I mean, it _was_ dumb, but not like…”

“What happened?”

“Got stabbed,” Taako said bluntly.  “You think you know a guy, then he stabs you over a sack full of gold.”

“That’s rough.”

“Well it _sucked_ but I was an idiot to not see it coming,” Taako shrugged.  “Guy says ‘Oh we’ll split it!’ like a tiefling rogue isn't going to immediately backstab me.”

“Dude that’s racist,” Magnus scolded.

“It's not because he's a tiefling.  I’ve not had a lot of good experiences with… anyone really.”

“Why not?”

“People treat elves differently,” he said finitely, “Let’s not get into it.”

Magnus knew better than to follow that up.

“Tell me about this one,” he said, pointing to what looked like another burn above Taako’s navel.

“Spilled boiling water.”

“You’ve been burned a lot.”

“In many ways.  Tell me about this one.”  He pointed to a set of perfectly parallel scars across Magnus’ bicep.

“R O U S.”

“What?”

“Rodent of unusual size.”

Taako hit him in the shoulder playfully.

“Scratch or…?”

“Bite.  One scar for each incisor.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah that one got really infected too,” he admitted.  “It was my first time out on my own and I didn’t know how to treat it beyond slapping a bandage on it and chugging potions.”

“I’ve got one like that,” Taako said, sticking out his leg to point at a scar that looked a lot like the one Magnus had above his collar bone.  It didn’t heal as nicely.

“Crossbow bolt?”

“Through the _ankle_ ,” Taako moaned.  “And I walked on it for a few days with the bolt still in there because I just didn’t know how to get it _out_.”

“Were they aiming for your legs?”

“I think they wanted to stop me from running,” Taako replied, “Didn’t work.”

“Why were you running?”

“Because I had to get away.”

Magnus didn’t follow that up.

Taako looked down at Magnus’ newest scar.

“We’re really fucked up, you know?”

“I don’t like to think of it like that,” Magnus sighed.  “I’m lucky to have scars.”

Taako frowned.  “When I look at my scars I see every dumb mistake I’ve ever made, permanently ruining me.  I can’t _not_ see them.”

“When I look at mine,” Magnus smiled, “I see every dumb mistake I’ve made and still _survived_.  Scars are a reminder that I’m still alive, I guess.  That life hasn’t killed me yet.”

Taako ran his fingers over the new scar.  “I guess that’s a nicer way to think of it.  But this one wasn’t going to kill you.”

“Oh no, this one was just straight up dumb,” Magnus admitted.  “That’s the last time I wittle while sleepy.”


End file.
